Transfer Rumours | Mikel Landa close to re-signing with Soudal - Quick-Step

Soudal - Quick-Step was in the past a team of classics specialists and sprinters. Nowadays, the classics specialists are gone - at least when it comes to the cobblestones - but the team is not only able to sign top climbers, but also keep them happy. At the time being, it seems increasingly likely that Mikel Landa Meana will be taking on a new contract with the Belgian team.

The 36-year old has been in many top teams and for over a decade has been fighting for the top results in many Grand Tours and stage-races. However, unlike many riders who couldn't make the switch in the 2020's, Landa seems to still be continuously improving, and has put in a masterful Tour de France performance last summer which saw him finish on the Top5 - only behind Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and João Almeida.

Landa has effectively been able to adapt to the new climbing level that we find in pro cycling and has managed to continue achieving the same kind of results that he has in the mid/late 2010's when he was an incredibly popular rider, and frequent stage winner in the Grand Tours. After many years as a team leader, in 2024 he moved to Soudal - Quick-Step where his main purpose was a domestique role for Evenepoel.

But the truth is Landa never found himself much in that position, and with his freedom he finished second behind Pogacar at the Volta a Catalunya last year. At the Tour, Evenepoel barely did not need the support of the Basque rider at all, and both finished with a top results. Landa went on to also finish eighth at the Vuelta a España.

This spring Landa already rode to a seventh place at Tirreno-Adriatico and fourth at the Volta a Catalunya, and is currently preparing for the Giro d'Italia where he will be the leader in the mountains and a very viable contender for podium or even victory in the overall classification. Afterwards, he will race the Tour de France, and seemingly he is happy in the current position he stands in.